In a brief visit to London on 18th October Armen Arslanian the Warden of the Armenian Church Bangladesh, held an informal coffee afternoon with some of the newly signed up contributors of the Bangladesh Armenian Heritage Project.

The aim of the project is to reach out to the Armenian Diaspora around the globe, particularly those who have family connections to India and Bangladesh.

The project is keen to reconstruct the history and family stories of this once vibrant Armenian community. Whilst in the UK, Armen was delighted to meet with those who could attend the gathering. Everyone had something to show and share; photo albums with precious images, family documents, and incredible business correspondence that shared the day-to-day trials and challenges of running enterprises in Bangladesh in the late 19th century. The informal and relaxed occasion was full of personal stories, swapping anecdotes and a passion and verve that set the room alive.

Mr Arslanian said: “We started this project 9 months ago and today has been an exceptional milestone for this ambitious venture. The Board of the Bangladesh’s Armenian Church of Holy Resurrection is fully committed to bringing back to life the rich history of the once thriving community here. On behalf of the board of the church, I’d like to thank all our friends who are contributing to this project and particularly to those who attended our first meeting in London. We especially and sincerely want to thank the coordinator, without whom this project would have been unviable. Her contagious enthusiasm and resolute commitment towards the project, coupled with her family history knowledge and expertise has been invaluable.”

The Bangladesh Armenian Heritage Project is still accepting contributions, and is keen to reconstruct the history and family stories of the Armenian presence in Bangladesh. The project has already received material from contributors in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia and India. If you have something you would like included, please get in touch project@armenianchurchbangladesh.com. Or any of their social media pages Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

“Armenians settled and founded a colony at Dacca in the early part of the 18th century when,it was one of the principal commercial centres in Bengal, but with the removal of the Viceregal quarters of Bengal from Dacca to Murshidabad, or Maxudabad, as it was then called, ended the distinction of Dacca as a city of metropolitan importance, This was in the beginning of the 18th century.” Mesrovb Seth